Method of cooling and dehydrating materials



QM UA A M Feb. 20, l1923.

METHOD COOLING `AND DEHYDRATING MATERIALS.

man FEB. 1, 1.921.

. INVAENTOR ATJ'ORNEY A' Patented Feb. 20,'1923.

FRANK MAUS, F sAN JosE, CALIFORNIA, AssIerNoie or ONE-HALE 'To sIEBREN J.

. sPoELsTRA, or sAN'Josn, CALIFORNIA.

METHOD 0F COOLING AND DEHYDRATING MATERIALS A Applicationled Februaryl, 19721. Speria1"No.i441,60l8.

jTo aZZfwz-omz'tmay concern: i thereof is built a'heat insulated chamber 13 Be it known that I, FRANK MAUS', a c'itiprovided with a drain at 14, a series of bafzen of the, United States, andresident of Sanl He plates at I5 and refrigerating coils at 16. Jose', in the county of Santa Clara and State yThis chamber 13 hasopen communication at 5 .of California, have invented certain 'new and 17 with conduit v6 and through conduit 6 60 useful Improvements in Methods of Cooling with tunnelor chamberl. At 18is showinr and 'Dehydrating Materials, Aof which the a fair'communicating withchamber 13 at 19 followingv is a specification. f.; and operated through the medium of a pul- This invention relate 1 to a -method of deleyA at 20, a discharge pipe being shown at hydratingand cooling by means of dry air 21 terminating in a plate 22 into which are 65 below a given temperature'.- j set the ends of pipes 23.` Pipes 2 3 are ar-v It is the object of my-inven'tion to provide ranged in conduit 6 and extend from pipe l a method wherein certain classes ofmater'ial .21 to the end 10 ofpassage 8 with which requiring slow treatment may be dehydrated they communicate through plate 24 in Which at a low temperature, and wherein ,heat inthey `are mounted. i

troduced into the 'dehydrator by the mate-` ff'AssuIning then that. the fan 18 is operatrial itself and the carriers therefor iis uti--,-ing1,vv the air in` the dehydrator will movein lized to supply sensible heat and latent heatfthe directionl indicated by the arrows, of evaporation. Itis a further object to pronamely,;i past the heat units'llto yend y9 and vide a method in which a minimum amount then through the dehydrating and cooling 75 of heat is introduced from an outside-source chamber'. 1, thence through passage 7 and (in addition to the heat supplied by themaconduit y6. Varound pipes 23 to condenser terial andcarriers) and in which the dehyfchamber 13 Where it passes around the re i drated material is delivered from the'dehy-l frigerating 4coils to' fan 18. Fromfan 18 drator at a proper temperature for storage. th

A still further object is to provide a method p ed into passage 8 again. l in which thev material is at'one and the Vsame feratingfrthis dehydrator under the time subjected to the dehydrating action of claimed,the cold dry air pas-sing dry air and the cooling action'lof cold air. y through fpipes 23 Atakes, up enough heat from In the drawing the dehydrating air passing through conduit 85 Figure 1 isa vertical and longitudinal sec.- 6 to materiallyraise itstemperature, at the tion through my improved dehydrator and same time vvloweringther temperature `of the cooler, part being broken away. 1 dehydration air in conduit 6. The air dis- Figure 2 is a section on line 2-'2 of Figcharged from `conduits 23 is lnot lin, most ure l. i Y' l l\ l.

Figure 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Figtherefore sufficient heat is addedthereto by ure 1. 4 f heating units 11 to raise itstemperature to `Referring more particularly to the drawa point le'ss than'the temperature of the maing, I provide at l a heat insulated tunnel terial about to be discharged from the cham- 40 or chamber fitted with doors 2&2 and a ber.` This air now picks up moisture from 95 track 3 upon which suitable trucks as 4 are the material treated and the moist air stores mounted carrying trays laden with mate-vv up latent heat of evaporation and sensible rial such as prunes, nuts, apricots, etc., to 4 heat from the material treated and the. carl' be dried and cooled. riers therefor, the material having been in- At 6 1s shown a slightly inclined heat introduced into chamber 1 at' a higher tem- 100,

sulated conduit arranged over tunnel l and perature than the atmospheric air the temcommunicating directly with one end thereperature of the air gradually rises as it ofas at 7. A passage 8 is arranged 'over passes to-air discharge passage 7 and the chamber l and communicates therewith at temperature of the 'material and carriers 5 minates at point 10 adjacent said passage 7. charge doors of the chamber. When the A'series of heating units as steam vradiators air leaves the dehydrating'chamber its temare arranged in passage 8 as at 11, a supply perature is higher than whenit entered the pipe being shown at l2. chamber because it has stored up h'eat as well D5 Over chamber l and passage 8 'at end 9 asl moisture, lthe heat being subsequentlv 110 .passesthrough pipe 21 and pipes 23 80' "y cases suiliciently heated foI` effective use,

the end opposite to the passage 7 land tergradually lowers as theyf pass to the dis; 105'y given up in conduit 6 and refrigerating chamber 13.

lt is now clear that by cold dry air dehydration is meant, as indicated above, one in which the dry air enters the Adehydrating chamber at a lower temperature than the material treated and the carrier therefor,

terial entering the cooling` chamber is not subjected to a sudden drop in temperature and humidity and therefore rendered liable 'to become case hardened`r but the temperature and humidity of the air in the chainber gradually lessens as the material passes therethrough.

a process ot this kind, of course, the temperature and degree ot humidity are merely relative. Since the process is in most cases itinished at about the temperature of the atmosphere the time, it is conceivable the temperature of the material when discharged from the dehydrator may vary throughout a wide range ot temperature, say from zero degiecs on a cold day to ninety degrees or more on a Warm day. liilhercrei* degrees ot temperature are referred to they vare to-be read with reference to the VEahrenheit scale. p

lt is to he understood that in a closed circuit -cold dry air cooler and dehydrator of this type heaters as ll are not always required as the heat introduced into the chamber l by the incoming material and carriers may be sufficientto raise the temperature o'l' the air therein to such a point that it will in turn impart the requisite amount ot heat to the dried air passing through conduits 23.

rllhe materials treated,

of course, pass through chamber l in an opposite direction to the flow of air therethrough.

lt is to be further understood that While l have herein disclosed one specific embodiment of my invention the disclosure. is to oe considered as illustrative only and in no Way to limit the scope of the appended claims.

l. l1 he process of cooling and dehydrating materials which consists in simultaneously and progressively reducing the temperature and the moisture content ot the materials treated.

2. The process of cooling and dehydratingmaterials which consists in circulatino air o lower temperature than the material treated around said material to reduce the temperature and moisture content thereof, coolingand drying said air, and utilizing a porvtion oi the heat ot said air during cooling and drying to raise the temperature or the same alter cooling and drying.

rThe process ot lehydrating4 and cooling materials which consists in moving the material to be treated through air cooler and dryer than said materials and moving in an opposite direction thereto whereby the 'temperature and moisture content ot the material are gradually lowered and the temperature and moisture content 'of the said air correspondingly augmented.

Lt, The process of dehydration and cooling which consists in precooling the dehydration air, raising the temperature thereof to a point near the temperature ot the said material but below the same, subj ectingthe material to the action of said air wherebyl heat is transferred from said material to said air, and utilizing` said heated air to raise the temperature of the cooled air prior to subjecting the material tothe action thereof.

FRANK MAUS 

